This report, Cultivating the Talent: Women Professionals in the Federation System, results from an AWP study commissioned by the UJC in November 2006. The study was launched with an email survey of 950 women federation professionals in UJC’s database. The email survey posed two questions: “Are you interested in advancing to a more senior position in federation?” and “Would you be willing to discuss your professional aspirations in a follow-up phone conversation?”

Summary of the report, Cultivating the Talent: Women Professionals in the Federation System, that results from an AWP study commissioned by the UJC in November 2006. The study was launched with an email survey of 950 women federation professionals in UJC’s database. The email survey posed two questions: “Are you interested in advancing to a more senior position in federation?” and “Would you be willing to discuss your professional aspirations in a follow-up phone conversation?”

Conventional wisdom says that scaling social innovation starts with strengthening internal management capabilities. This study of 12 high-impact nonprofits, by Heather McLeod Grant, however, shows that real social change happens when organizations go outside their own walls and find creative ways to enlist the help of others.

A survey of JCC professionals finds high rates of job satisfaction but concerns over advancement and compensation. While the proportion of women in senior positions has grown, women's salaries significantly trail men’s salaries.

A leading executive recruiter suggests that if Jewish organizations want more qualified women candidates to compete for CEO positions, they need to give female senior managers the opportunity to develop the skills required of a CEO.

A study that shows how boards and CEOs need to begin addressing leadership transition right away, or they will find themselves scrambling and competing to recruit talented senior executives and to deal with the disruptions that these transitions can cause.

Let's face it, to lead is to live dangerously. Although leadership is often viewed as an exciting and glamorous endeavor, such a portrayal ignores leadership's dark side: the inevitable attempts to take you out of the game.

Drawing from fifteen years of research, Debra E. Meyerson illustrates a spectrum of innovative ways--from cautious to increasingly bold--that individuals use to "rock the boat" from inside the corporate ship--and steer a course for powerful, positive change.

Men are five times more likely to submit Op-Ed articles to outlets than women. Katie Orenstein, founder of The Op-Ed Project and a partner of AWP's sought to change it by training women to get their voices into the public sphere.

A tool to map out individual and organizational “actors” involved in the formation and implementation of policy. This exercise helps identify who holds power, visualize relationships, and identify allies.

The Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly surveyed rabbis and women reported lower salaries, inferior positions and less career satisfaction than their male colleagues – and were nearly three times as likely to be unmarried.

An article demonstrating the lack of gender equity in the Jewish communal world, pointing to a national conference sponsored by the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute as an example of gender bias to be addressed. Written by Steven Cohen and Shaul Kelner it references their eight studies of gender equity in the Jewish communal world.

An article identifying significant changes in Jewish women's leadership including an increase in the number of women executives in start-ups and new executive job descriptions with shared leadership responsibilities.

Change the Jewish conversation: Doesn't an all-male roster suggest these are the best presenters? An all-male roster on a panel or publication usually means that these are the best known presenters or writers. Let’s break this cycle. When we rely on the same speakers time after time, we send the message that there’s nothing new under the sun. Identifying women scholars, intellectuals, rabbis, and leaders will bring a fresh point o

Many influential men in Jewish life agree that our community will flourish with shared leadership. AWP's male allies want to infuse the Jewish conversation with the voices and viewpoints of women scholars, rabbis, public intellectuals, and institutional executives.

Leveling the Playing Field is a guidebook for advancing women in Jewish organization life. It's useful for anyone who believes that gender equity and shared leadership are vital to the health of Jewish communities, and who wants to turn beliefs into action.

About AWP

Advancing Women Professionals and the Jewish Community (AWP) is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to advance women into leadership positions in Jewish life; stimulate Jewish organizations to become more equitable, productive and vibrant environments; and promote policies that support work-life integration and flexibility for professionals and volunteers.